Michael Weinstein

Blues, rock and jazz photographer Herb Nolan captured the luminaries of the mid-twentieth-century music scene from his Chicago vantage point, always adopting a relaxed and unstudied approach, even in his performance shots. Neither hyping their images nor subverting them, Nolan strains his subjects through an affirmative humanist sieve, presenting them simply as regular guys who are deprived of any aura, but are all the more accessible and ingratiating without one. Nolan's banner shot shows Frank Zappa noodling on his guitar in a littered dressing room, oblivious to everything but his instrument. Dressed down, backstage and at his ease—with a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon on the table next to him—Zappa is human-all-too-human in the best way. This image is not ready to adorn an album cover, but in a saner world it would be.

Herb Nolan shows at David Leonardis Gallery, 217 West Huron, (312)863-9045, through January 30.

(2008-01-08)

Also by Michael Weinstein

Tip of the Week
Inviting comparison with astral formations, forests, gardens, deserts and seabeds, this exhibition of fifty intricately beautiful microscopic photographs of slices of the nervous system provides compelling evidence for the aesthetic unity of perceived nature
(2007-12-31)

Tip of the Week
Among young photo-artists today, two conflicting tendencies assert themselves, one of them struggling for an as-yet-inchoate new vision, and the other depicting the exhaustion of the recent past. The three contributors to this show are the executioners of the past that they have inherited
(2007-12-18)

Endangered Species
"I suppose I am a heretic," David Plowden says with more than a touch of jovial irony. He is also a man who has achieved wisdom through his lifelong romance with the world through his camera
(2007-11-13)

Tip of the Week
In a madcap dance with the absurd, Jeff Mueller appropriates old black-and-white photographs, projects them on large light-sensitive canvases, surrounds his subjects with sketchy line drawings and then scrawls texts across his images that often dissolve into illegibility and set up an implosion of meaning
(2007-10-30)

Tip of the Week
(2007-08-28)

Tip of the Week
(2007-08-21)

Tip of the Week
(2007-08-14)

Tip of the Week
(2007-08-07)

Tip of the Week
(2007-07-31)

Tip of the Week
(2007-07-24)

Tip of the Week
(2007-07-17)

Tip of the Week
(2007-07-10)

about Newcitychicago | about Newcity magazine | advertising | privacy policy | FAQ | employment